Mercer backs outsourcing efficiencies

William M Mercer has backed the idea that manager selection by trustees could be usefully outsourced to third parties, including investment consultants themselves.

Roger Urwin at Watson Wyatt has also declared that outsourcing to investment consultants, clients willing, could be a way to make decision-making more efficient (Financial News, August 28). But both he, and Tim Gardener of William M Mercer, stress that other equally valid options would be to delegate decisions either to an investment sub-committee or to professionals...